Andy McElhany is the one new face in the leadership in the 2006 session of the Colorado General Assembly. As a result, the prospects are good that Colorado will become the 11th state to adopt statewide restrictions on smoking in public places.

McElhany became Senate minority leader after Mark Hillman was appointed state treasurer to succeed Mike Coffman. Coffman, a Marine reservist, chose to serve a tour of duty in Iraq and will return in April, at which point Hillman is expected to resign so Coffman can be reappointed to treasurer prior to running for secretary of state next fall. That will leave Hillman free to return, briefly, to his wheat farm near Burlington before seeking the treasurer’s job in his own right next November.

Don’t worry if you got lost following that game of musical chairs. What counts is that Hillman is out and McElhany is in as minority leader.

The life of a minority leader is often frustrating. But Hillman managed a victory of sorts last year by getting all 17 Republicans to pledge to oppose a smoking ban. After the ban passed the House 37-28, two of the 18 Senate Democrats, Stephanie Takis of Aurora and Lois Tochtrop of Thornton, voted against the bill, killing the measure.

The result may have been a famous triumph for Hillman, but it was an awkward one for several Republican senators who found themselves at odds with their constituents on the bill. Having pledged to Hillman to vote against it, they kept their word. But several Republicans, including McElhany, told me last May that they wished Hillman had left GOP lawmakers free to seek a compromise. McElhany confirmed last week he would not try to get a unified Republican position this year and was hopeful of finding a compromise that could avert a possible citizen’s initiative on the smoking measure on next fall’s ballot.

A ballot issue banning smoking would probably pass, since 47 Colorado cities or counties have already adopted restrictions of some sort on smoking in public places. But the result of such local initiatives has been a crazy quilt of regulations for the restaurant industry. Some restaurants in non-smoking communities face competitors in nearby localities that place no restrictions on the deadly weed. Thus, the Colorado Restaurant Association, which had traditionally opposed smoking bans, last year opted to support a comprehensive ban that included bars, restaurants, racetracks and casinos in quest of the proverbial “level playing field.”

The hospitality industry is also worried about liability for workers who may come down with smoking-related illnesses on the job. Customers annoyed by smokers can choose to go to another restaurant and even if they don’t, they are exposed to secondhand smoke only for a brief time. Wait staff in restaurants that allow smoking have to breathe those fumes 40 hours a week. Hillman derides studies showing the risk of secondhand smoke as “junk science” – but juries looking at a waitress who never smoked and got lung cancer anyway are likely to disagree. A big judgment to a stricken employee could put a restaurant out of business. Thus, many restaurant owners who can’t ban smoking on their own for fear of driving away customers now welcome a statewide ban.

Rep. Mike May, R-Parker, the affable House assistant minority leader, told me Friday he plans to reintroduce the smoking ban next week with about 20 co-sponsors. May is confident the measure will again pass the House and McElhany’s even-handed approach should get it through the Senate.

For his part, Gov. Bill Owens is unlikely to veto a measure with such broad support from both the health and business communities.

Errata – Two weeks ago I recounted how an e-mail from a reader, Lansin Carmean, led me to a treasure trove of nine old scrapbooks of my late mother in a Wheat Ridge antique shop. Apparently assuming the kindness of strangers to be an exclusively female trait, I thanked “her” for what turned out to be his thoughtful act.

Thanks again, sir.

Bob Ewegen (bewegen@denverpost.com) is deputy editorial page editor of The Denver Post. He has covered state and local government since 1963.